National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPR-A) Watershed Hydrology

Authors

• H. Toniolo
• D. Vas
• E. Lamb
• P. Prokein

Files

Description

During a five-year period, which represents the entire project span, the research team performed discharge measurements on seven gaging stations distributed on the National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska (NPR-A), an area of approximately 23 million acres that extends from the north side of the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. Specifically, 225 discharge measurements were taken during that period. In addition, records of air temperature and rainfall, as well as wind speed and wind direction from stations that collected such data were analyzed. The air temperature data indicate that the entire region followed a pronounced warming trend, ending with the 2010/2011 winter, which was the warmest winter recorded at the stations. Rainfall data suggest a trend in increasing precipitation during the summer months from the coastal plain to the foothill area. Unusually dry conditions were experienced over the entire area in 2007 and in 2011. The overall highest mean wind speed was recorded in June at the two stations where wind data were available; the lowest mean wind speed was recorded in December at one station and in March at the other station. Wind roses indicate two main wind directions—roughly from the northeast and southwest—with winds from the northeast predominant.

Publication Date

9-17-2014

Recommended Citation

Toniolo, H.; Vas, D.; Lamb, E.; and Prokein, P., "National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPR-A) Watershed Hydrology" (2014). WERC Project Reports. 4.
https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/uaf_werc_project_reports/4

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10388